Young Indian players do not fear anything: PBKS' James Hopes

In a pre-match press conference, fast-bowling coach James Hopes expressed confidence in the team's readiness and discussed their strategy for the crucial encounter on Sunday.

Hopes shared that the players are back in the groove.

"I think there was some concern about how the team was going to come back together. But the way we have trained the last few days, it feels like we did not miss a beat. And if anything, the guys came back a little bit fresher from being able to spend a couple of days at home," Hopes said, according to PBKS press release.

"I think we will go in with a pretty similar structure. Even if there are some different players in those roles, the way we are going to play is going to be very similar... It was an unexpected break, but we are trying to look at the flip side of it," he added.

Hopes also highlighted the fearless attitude of the young Indian players, in both the Punjab Kings and other teams, acknowledging their impact on their respective teams and the tournament as a whole.

"The young Indian players, at the moment, do not fear anything. They are almost scarier to play against because you don't have a lot of information on them to start off with, and they come out with zero fear. We have seen it with a few teams this tournament, including us, that with playing some young players, they are dominating the tournament."

Punjab Kings will now play the remainder of their home games at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. When asked if the pitch conditions in the stadium will favor the Kings, the fast bowling coach stressed the dynamic nature of the squad.

"We are heavily favored towards pace, but we do have some spinners in our squad that we're more than willing to play if the pitch offers that. We are very confident in the depth we've got. We tried to put together a squad that could play in all different conditions," Hopes said.

Punjab Kings will face Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on May 18 at 3:30 pm.